A Guide to Investing in Real Estate in the Czech Republic

Are you planning to sell your property in Czech Republic fast? The real estate market in the Czech Republic is quite divided. It is not the same across the country. The market is very different in the cities of Prague (capital of the Czech Republic) and Brno, than from the rest of the country.

In fact, the Czech Republic is dominated by Prague and Brno. It’s here that you find the best deals, jobs and business opportunities. In this article, we investigate the latest trends and developments in the property market in the Czech Republic, and tell you what to expect.

#1: The locals are buying properties like never before – The biggest change observed by real estate analysts in the Czech Republic is that the confidence in the housing market in the country is very high among the local public. People have a very good expectation of what the future holds for them and are prepared to use their savings to invest in properties. They are not scared of falling into debt, and believe strongly that the future is going to be much better than the present.

#2: Property is considered to be the safest investment – Another major change seen recently is that people no longer trust the Czech pension system. They don’t trust the stock market or the bond market. For many, there is a lack of trust in the government and in banks, which forces them to look at property as the only viable alternative for their investments.

#3: There’s a huge demand for expensive apartments in the Czech Republic – Over a third of the apartments in Prague were priced at 50 to 60 Czech Koruna per square metre. (1 USD = 24.83 Czech Koruna). This is not a bad price by any means. There’s a lot of demand for luxury apartments in both Prague and Brno, especially from wealthy foreign investors.

#4: New apartments are selling like hot cakes in Prague – Prague is one of the hottest real estate markets in Central Europe. Over 6,500 new apartments were sold in the city in 2015, which is 6% higher than the number for 2014.

The data for 2016 is even better – over 7,200 apartments sold already. That’s a rise of 10% over the last year. EKOSPOL, which is a top real estate developer in Prague, expects 8,000 apartments to be sold by the end of the year. That’s amazing.

So who buys properties in Prague? The locals are the biggest buyers, of course. Among foreign buyers, Ukrainians, Slovaks and Russians are the most dominant.

#5: Apartment prices are likely to rise further in the future because of delays over approval of projects– Because of bureaucratic inefficiency and wrong policies, there’s been a delay in granting approval for new real estate projects in not just Prague, but in the rest of the country. As a result, there’s a serious shortfall of properties for sale in the Czech Republic. This is certainly going to lead to a jump in real estate prices in 2017 and beyond.